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NBA Picks

Two conflicting styles meet tonight in Utah when the Rockets visit the Jazz. Houston is a slight road favorite in this spot with Utah coming off a back to back. Here's our exclusive NBA Pick.

Houston Rockets

Houston has won their last two games in a row and come in averaging 109.8 points per game which rank third in the NBA. The Mike D'Antoni offense is starting to click and Houston is one of the more efficient teams across the board offensively. Currently, the Rockets rank second in overall shooting percentage, shooting efficiency, and effective field-goal percentage. As well, they are moving the ball unselfishly averaging 24.8 assist per game which also ranks second in the NBA. James Harden has taken up his role as a really good facilitator which has lifted Houston into looking like a player in the Western Conference.

They also really like to shoot the three averaging 37 attempts from distance per game and average making 14 of those which both rank first in the NBA. However, it is the another side of the ball they give me a little bit of pause as currently, Houston ranks in the bottom third of most statistics defensively. The Rockets are allowing opponents to shoot 46% from the field which ranks 25th in the league as well as 105.5 points per game which rank them 21st. They're catching Utah in a pretty tough spot having to come back and off a back to back but I don't think their offense will be enough tonight.

Utah Jazz

Utah is averaging just 96.6 points per game while allowing 92.8 which ranks them 27th and first in the league respectively. This is really a conflicting contest for them as their numbers are pretty much the opposite of Houston when it comes to offense and defense. However, Utah is a bit more efficient offensively than Houston is efficient defensively which is me taking a shot with them getting the small number. Utah is shooting 45.3% from the floor which ranks 12th in the NBA and they also rank 11th in both shooting efficiency and effective field-goal percentage. On top of that, of course, has been their stout defense which ranks first in the NBA in opponent overall shooting percentage, opponent shooting efficiency, and opponent effective field-goal percentage.

They also are allowing just 34.7 field goals made per game by their opponents which rank second in the league. Although this is a tough spot for them to come back from a road game and play a very efficient Houston team I like for them to get enough stops and be efficient enough to pull out the home win.

Oddsmakers have Houston as a -2 favorite across the board. For my NBA pick, I'm going to back Utah getting the +2 and look for them to win this game straight up. Tough spot for them but they match up well with Houston.